


Even When the Night Changes

by marchtwentyfour



Category: GOT7
Genre: Best Friends, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 14:50:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5970961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchtwentyfour/pseuds/marchtwentyfour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark spent hours, <i>spends</i> hours hoping he and Jaebum would never change. He hopes they would stay like this forever, halves of a whole and pieces of each other. He hopes they would always be by each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even When the Night Changes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myturntocry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myturntocry/gifts).



> Dedicated to my best friend, the biggest markbum shipper I know. She is also my beloved beta so the fact that my fics are readable is all because of her.

There was a time in Mark’s life that everything was easy and comforting. A time when being at home meant watching the television or talking about random things with his Dad while his sisters helped his Mom in the kitchen. A time when school just meant getting attendance and making sure he gets at least a passing grade. A time when friends meant hanging out during breaks and after school. A time when a best friend meant that one person he trusts to back him up whenever there were any fights.

There was a time in Mark’s life that he wakes up with a smile and goes back to sleep with a heavy feeling but excitement for what awaits him the next day. A time when responsibilities meant doing his chores at home or else his parents with confiscate his comic books and ban him from the television. A time when hanging out meant talking about the latest game or the next volume of their favorite comic book. A time when crushes were a passing interest with no real feelings even if it were on  _ boys _ .

But now Mark was 21 and on his third year of College with actual responsibilities. It makes him want to curl up into a ball and rewind the last 10 years of his life.

  


“Mark, aren’t you supposed to be waking up Jaebum hyung by now?” was Jackson’s greeting as he lets himself in Mark’s apartment, the one he shares with his best friend. But Jackson thinks he’s welcome 24/7 in their apartment as he throws his bag on the tiny dinner table and takes a seat on the couch.

“His first class got cancelled.” Mark answered, flipping through his Asian History workbook. He would’ve already been done with this Minor subject by his first year, but as he keeps on forgetting to take it. Here he is.

Jackson rolled his eyes and it went unnoticed, Mark still buried on his book. “You’re boring.”

Picking up a pen to write down a note on his pad, “Go back to your dorm. I’m studying.” Mark just said absent mindedly.

Jackson scoffed as if it was the most stupid thing he’s heard before. “I’ll just raid your kitchen.” he stood up and walked towards the kitchen, receiving no complains. He makes a mean cheese ramen and they all knew it. So he was left on his own devices because he probably knows their kitchen better than Mark or Jaebum does.

It was an hour later when Jaebum resurfaces from his room, rubbing one hand on his eye and wearing only pajama bottoms. Jackson does a whistle, cackling when Jaebum sends a glare on his way while Mark makes sure not to look his way.

Taking the seat beside Mark, Jaebum asked, “What did you guys eat?” He eyed the empty bowls on the table.

“We saved you a bowl. Do you want me to heat it up?” Mark offered, putting down the pen he was holding to stretch his arms and back. He had been crouched over his notes for more than two hours now and his legs were starting to feel numb. It’s what he gets for procrastination.

“Thanks,” was Jaebum’s confirmation as Mark stood up and walked past him. He grabbed the notebook Mark had just abandoned to go through it, reading the words that the other had meticulously wrote down. He grabbed a pen and scribbled some reminders on the margin before putting it back where he placed it on.

At that same moment Mark comes back with Jaebum’s food on a tray, just the bowl of ramen and utensils with a glass of water and a steaming cup of coffee. He placed it on the table, putting them down in front of Jaebum before lacing the dirty dishes on the tray and walked back to the kitchen.

“Thanks for the breakfast, by the way.” Jaebum said, already blowing on a spoonful. He looked up and raised his eyebrow at Mark. “Why are you still here? Don’t you have that make-up class for Jung?”

Cursing, Mark’s eyes widened as he looked at the clock. He forgot about that make-up class and he forgot that he should be in the lecture hall in less than 15 minutes. Without needing to say anything else, he ran to his room and change that within five minutes he was out of the door, leaving Jaebum and Jackson. 

This was how Mark and Jaebum works, why they are the best sort of roommates one could ever ask for. This was why they were bestfriends, why they are the closest among their already close-knit friends. Because Mark relies on Jaebum the same way Jaebum trusts Mark.

  


Mark didn’t use to believe in childhood bestfriends, didn’t think it’s true that you can keep your friends even when you grow up. It’s bound to happen, losing everyone you know one by one whether it be because of school or because of new friends. He watched all the friends he made during High School stop contacting him one by one… until all he has left is Im Jaebum.

**From** : Bum   
**Message** : Milk

Grabbing Jaebum’s favorite brand, he adds it to his basket.

It’s amazing how well Mark and Jaebum knew each other, how a single a word could explain so much. But with the years they’ve spent with each other, Mark knows of Jaebum’s every little quirks and knows his mood like the back of his palm. He knows Jaebum’s moods like his own, knows when to leave him alone and when to give the other boy a bear hug.

“Trip tomorrow.” Jaebum nudges Mark with his feet. “Did you pack your bags yet?”

Mark thinks of the mess he made by trying to pack his bags earlier this morning and thinks of how he immediately just threw everything inside, hoping they won’t be too crumpled when he has to use them. “Yeah. You?” but he knows the answer even before Jaebum nods his head, attention back to the movie they were watching.

And nothing was surprising when Mark comes out of the shower with his bag miraculously fixed and Jaebum’s handwriting on a post-it stuck to it. “ _ What would you do without me? _ ” Mark doesn’t want to think about that particular question.

  


Surrounded by their friends, Mark sort-of wonders why Jaebum chose him of all people to share himself with. It was weird because Mark has never been  _ that  _ kind of person, the one you’ll want by your side because he rarely talks and isn’t good with comforting. He tends to shy away from confrontation, tend to choose to stand by the wall instead of dancing in the middle of the crowd. And Jaebum? Jaebum was everything Mark was not.

“JAEBUM HYUNG, MY PASS!”

“COME DANCE WITH ME HYUNG!”

“HYUNG, COOK FOR ME PLEASE.”

Even after playing with all of them, laughing and rough-housing with the others, Jaebum always comes back to Mark’s side to nudge him so he could sit beside him. He would always ask, offer if he wants to join them and sometimes Mark declines but usually he would join. Jaebum never seems to be surprised whatever Mark’s answer was, always willing to understand his reasons.

If the answer is, “It’s okay. I’ll just watch you guys.” Jaebum would pat his knee before standing up to continue messing around them. He’d be back a few minutes later, to tell Mark about Youngjae this or that idiot Jackson that. 

Whenever Mark agrees, Jaebum would flash him that sincere smile that Jaebum doesn’t share with a lot of people. He’d help Mark get up from where he’s seating so they could join the others and win. Because in Jaebum’s words, he and Mark are The Dream Team. And they actually are because they seem to always know each other well, knows when and where they need the other one. Jackson calls it cheating, but Youngjae just giggles at them.

Really, Jaebum and Mark are just perfect with each other.

  


When Mark lets his back hit his bed and his eyes focus on his ceiling, the night light the only one illuminating his room, he wonders if everything would ever change. He wonders, as he moves to lie down on his side, when there would come a time that Jaebum wouldn’t know Mark anymore the way he does now. He wonders if there would come a time that Mark wouldn’t be able to recognize when Jaebum was happy or just pretending.

It’s a scary thought, that one night you would sleep knowing that person from head to toe and then waking up to find out you don’t know them anymore. It’s a scary thought, thinking when he would lose  _ this  _ with Jaebum, when he couldn’t call the other boy his best friend anymore.

Mark spent hours,  _ spends  _ hours hoping he and Jaebum would never change. He hopes they would stay like this forever, halves of a whole and pieces of each other. He hopes they would always be by each other.

  


It probably makes sense for Mark to fall for Jaebum, to love his best friend more than what should be allowed. It was cliche in the worst sense, so predictable and so obvious that Mark went cold at the mere thought that Jaebum  _ knows _ . 

And it’s so confusing, so messy that he can’t decide whether he wants Jaebum to know and maybe--hopefully--return his feelings too. But at the same time, that nervousness that the other might laugh at him, might think the idea of Mark loving Jaebum was the most idiotic idea ever in existence.

But Mark was weak, has always been the weak one between the two of them. He couldn’t help what he feels, couldn’t help the way his heart hammers in his chest at Jaebum’s sight. He couldn’t help but feel his world spin around at the way Jaebum sends him a smile. He couldn’t stop the way his whole breath gets knocked out at how Jaebum is  _ so  _ close, their skins hot against each other.

Even when he knew he shouldn’t, knew he should stop the way he feels and maybe bury it in the pits of hell, Mark  _ can’t _ . Because there was no one else in the world that Mark could fall for, it was like written in stone even before he and Jaebum met, that Mark Tuan is supposed to fall for Im Jaebum. A destiny he had fulfilled and a destiny he will never be able to run away from. Especially since there was nothing else in the world that Mark would rather do than to sit down with Jaebum and never let go.

Yet.

Mark ends up almost ruining their friendship as he cancelled on numerous movie marathons or hanging out with the guys. He spends weeks being so fucking  _ afraid  _ that he forgot Jaebum had feelings, that Jaebum knows him and knows when Mark needs to be cuddled or when Mark needs to be punched to bring him back to his senses.

“What the fuck, Tuan?!” Jaebum’s fist landed on Mark’s cheek, the pain so strong that Mark wobbled backward at the impact. He backed him up against the wall, Jaebum looking so angry that it hurts. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Jaebum, fuck.” Mark clutched on the swelling on his face, his eye twitching at the pain. “Couldn’t you have handled this better by not punching me?”

“I don’t know, do I? Would you have stopped and listened to me if I didn’t?” Jaebum’s words spat like venom, the anger and hurt obvious from his tone. His eyes were burning with the same emotion and he was shaking. “My fucking recital and you weren’t even there, asshole.”

In a trance, Mark realized that  _ yes _ , today was Jaebum’s recital, the one the boy had been talking about for months. Yes, Mark missed it by being a coward and running far away from his feelings. In the process, he had hurt the one person that he cares for the most. And he knows apologies won’t fix it, fix  _ them _ , but he thought he could start with that.

“I’m sorry.”

  


And the thing is, Mark hoped and hoped that he and Jaebum would never change. He hoped they would stay best friends, hoped they would know each other the best that it happened.

“The boys have plans tomorrow.” Jaebum told Mark when he got in, throwing his bag on the couch. “Actually, they  _ all  _ have dates tomorrow that’s why they’re all free. I guess it’s just you and me.”

Mark swallowed because tomorrow was Valentines Day. Jackson had finally asked his crush out, Yugyeom going on a date with Bambam and Youngjae is out with a girl that has a crush on him but he was too oblivious to understand. It was just him and Jaebum left, him because he couldn’t ask the guy he likes out and Jaebum because… Mark doesn’t actually know if Jaebum has his eyes on anyone.

“Should we…” Mark swallows again. “Do you want to eat out, then?”

Jaebum eyed him. “It’s Valentine's Day, idiot. Everyone would be out.”

Shrugging with as much nonchalance he tried to have, “But the food will be cheaper because they have all these promos for couples.” he hopes he wasn’t too obvious, that his thundering heart couldn’t be heard. “We could pretend. It’d be a laugh.”

Jaebum looked like he was considering it, his lower lip trapped between his teeth. Mark tries very hard not to shake too much, not to beg and maybe hope that Jaebum would give him a chance. So he just sits there, a little too stiffly than necessary but it was the best he could do right now.

“Sure, why not.” Mark felt his heart stop. “You’re paying, by the way.”

  


It wasn’t a date. It wasn’t a date. It was  _ not  _ a date. It was not a  _ date _ . Mark chanted the words over and over in his head as he changed his shirt for the nth time, even when he knew Jaebum wouldn’t even notice what he was wearing unless it was something the other boy wanted to borrow.

Jaebum didn’t even knock on his door, just opened it to yell at him. “MARK! TAXI IS HERE!” When he saw Mark’s messy room, he rolled his eyes. “Please, you’re not going on a date. There’s no one to impress. Hurry up.”

As Jaebum closed the door, Mark slowly picked up the first shirt he tried on and wore it hurriedly. He left his room in a mess, he’d just clean it up later. He went out of the room quietly and followed Jaebum out of their dorm to where the taxi was waiting.

Jaebum was right, this wasn’t a date. What was Mark even thinking?

  


The funniest thing is, Mark realized that he and Jaebum could never change. All those times he spent the night worrying about Jaebum changing? Useless. Mark realized he had wasted hours of his life worrying.

Mark and Jaebum would never change, they would always be the best friends each other could ever ask for. They would always know each other like the back of their palm, their emotions obvious to the other.

“What would you and your date like to order, sir?” Jinyoung it said on his name tag, a bright smile and a crinkle on his eye. Mark knew the moment that Jaebum fell for the boy in front of them, knew the moment that Jaebum’s fingers twitched. “Sirs?”

“We--” Jaebum stuttered, looking at Mark in panic.

Mark laughed, the sound so fake even on his own ears. “Oh, we’re not on a date.” he felt his heart plummet to the ground. “We’re just here to make use of the couple promos.”

“But hopefully you will still give us these promos even though we’re not on a date?” Jaebum seemed to finally catch his breath, finally looked postured. “Jinyoung ssi?”

Jinyoung smiled again, even brighter now. “Tell you what…” he tilted his head to the side.

“Jaebum.” Jaebum said the same time Mark answered, “Mark.”

Jinyoung seemed to find this amusing. “Tell you what Jaebum ssi and Mark ssi. Other than the couple promos, I’ll even lend you my employee discount. That is, if!” he looks at Jaebum’s this time, “If Jaebum ssi is willing to return the favour by buying me a meal tomorrow?”

Mark had never seen Jaebum nod so fast in his life.

  


Even when the night changes, Mark and Jaebum would never change. Whether Mark wanted them to or not, because nothing will ever change between him and his  _ best friend _ .


End file.
